Late onset of subcutaneous calcifications after intravenous injections of calcium gluconate

In this series of 11 infants, the complete absence of skin sloughs is evidence against any injections having been mistakenly made intramuscularly or subcutaneously. It is suggested, instead, that vascular leakage not clinically visible is sufficient to produce these findings. The rapid injection of calcium gluconate caused transient hypercalcemia. Areas injured by previous attempts at starting intravenous injections, perhaps accompanied by residual local hematomas, may have acted as niduses for calcium deposition.